Anne Hathaway Apologizes To Valentino For Dress Snub, Mum About Wardrobe Malfunction At The 2013 Oscars

It seems that the world cannot stop talking about Anne Hathaway’s Oscar dress, even days after the ceremony, due to the apparent wardrobe malfunction and last-minute change that snubbed a designer.

We’ve all known Anne Hathaway is good friends with Valentino Garavani. He designed her wedding dress, not to mention countless others on the red carpet, and the actress most recently traveled with the designer and his business partner, Giancarlo Giammetti, for New Year’s Eve in Gstaad, Switzerland.

So it was no surprise that Hathaway had chosen to wear a Valentino gown on her big night at the 2013 Oscars, where she inevitably won Best Supporting Actress for her role in “Les Miserables.” Except, she didn’t wear Valentino; she wore Prada.

At the time, Hathaway said it was a last-minute change, finally deciding what to wear three hours before leaving for the awards. But just before the actress arrived on the red carpet, the house of Valentino sent out a press release stating Hathaway would be wearing Valentino, and much to everyone’s shock, she didn’t. The snafu, as Women’s Wear Daily explained, “carries more weight than is usually placed on such matters” since Hathaway and her stylist, Rachel Zoe, have been longtime Valentino supporters.

Instead, Hathaway showed up in a Prada number that, according to The New York Times, was “so sexually suggestive that many viewers at home believed they were seeing part of Ms. Hathaway’s anatomy.” The dress even landed the Oscar winner on several worst dressed lists, like Joan Rivers’ show on E! “Fashion Police,” not to mention IBTimes’ own offenses in fashion list.

Rumors circulated that Hathaway ditched her Valentino dress because it was too similar to a dress another starlet was planning to wear for the red carpet. The actress reportedly “freaked out” to Zoe and scrambled to find another gown the night before. According to Fashionista, it all stemmed after seeing “Les Mis” co-star Amanda Seyfried’s gown by Alexander McQueen, which looked similar to the one Hathaway was going to wear.

Amanda Seyfried of "Les Miserables" poses in her Alexander McQueen gown as she arrives at the 85th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 24, 2013. Reuters

Turns out, the rumors were true. Almost.

Hathaway released a statement to WWD on Tuesday, confirming everyone’s thoughts, but did not name names.

“It came to my attention late Saturday night that there would be a dress worn to the Oscars that is remarkably similar to the Valentino I had intended to wear, and so I decided it was best for all involved to change my plans,” Hathaway said. “Though I love the dress I did wear, it was a difficult last-minute decision as I had so looked forward to wearing Valentino in honor of the deep and meaningful relationship I have enjoyed with the house and with Valentino himself. I deeply regret any disappointment caused.”

WWD alleged that Seyfried wasn’t the cause of the last-minute change, but Jennifer Aniston, who wore a red Valentino ball gown. Aniston is repped by the same publicist, Stephen Huvane, though he, nor other parties involved, commented on Aniston’s role.

“It’s our policy never to comment and we can’t make any statements out of respect for our fellow designers,” a spokesperson for Prada said.

Along with the competition mystery, Hathaway and her rep have yet to acknowledge what many are dubbing a “wardrobe malfunction” and the Twitter account that spawned Sunday evening. The Prada dress had darts in the breast area, which combined with the chilly temperatures or lack of breast petals, may have resulted in Hathaway’s nipples to poke through the gown. Between the Valentino snub and malfunction, the gown garnered much attention, a new hash tag #LesNipperables and a Twitter account, @HathawayNipple.